The 3 Best Open-Source PDF Editors in 2022

July 31, 2023535 views

Open-source pdf editors are available for Windows, mac, and android too. These open-source programs function identically to all of the free PDF editing programs featured in this article. Because they're open source, you'll be able to see their source code and make changes to them as you see fit. They can help programmers who want to create their pdf editor by studying the functionality and code of existing ones.

It's easy to edit and save pdf files with these free, open-source editors in 2022. It's possible to discover and change text, insert, modify, and more with these pdf editors. Many of these editors can handle documents in various formats and PDFs. If you're done editing, you can save the document in multiple formats, including doc, xhtml, bmp, gpl, and so on. Some of these programs support picture formats, and image manipulation is an option for some.

WPS Office

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WPS Office is a free, open-source pdf editor in 2022. Editing a pdf with the WPS Office online or offline is simple. Aside from that, this software allows you to edit various other file types such as doc and txt documents.

It has common editing functions like insert, format, convert, find/replace, etc., to do editing. If you make modifications to a pdf document, you can save them back to the original file or create a new one. Various file types can be used to export the content as well. If you don't want to modify it, you can simply use it as a reader to look at pdf files.

Several helpful office apps are included in the WPS Office Suite. In general, an open-source pdf editor is straightforward and easy to use.

Apache OpenOffice

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The next free, open-source pdf editor for Windows is Apache OpenOffice. Using this program, you can edit pdf, docx, doc, csv, html, txt, and other file types. OpenOffice Draw is all you need to make changes to a pdf document.

This online software does not allow editing of pdf files by default. An import extension is required to use this software's pdf editing features. The Extension Manager window can be found in the Tools menu. A "more extension" option can be found here. Search for the pdf Import extension by clicking on it. After discovering this extension, save it to your computer. Return to Extension Manager and click the Add Button to find the downloaded extension. Then, open the extension in your browser to begin using it. You can see the new extension right away in the extension manager. Now, you may edit any pdf file using this software.

Select and replace text; add new text; insert photos; insert tables; rearrange pdf pages; highlight text; etc. can all be done using this software. Additionally, you can edit a document by changing its orientation, adjusting its size, or adding layers to it. The top toolbar of this software contains all of the necessary tools. Use the Export pdf option to save all of your changes to a pdf file after editing a pdf document. In addition to pdf, the altered content can be saved in html, bmp, pct, svg, xpm, and other formats.

Scribus

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In addition to Adobe Acrobat, Scribus is a free, open-source online and offline pdf editor for Windows. Desktop publishing and magazine design are two of the best and most common applications for this software. In addition, the program offers a variety of options for creating new or editing existing pdf files. svg, xml, and xara files can be imported and edited using this software.

It does not allow you to choose and replace the original content of the pdf with the new one like other pdf editing applications. Other editing tools include the ability to include new text, photos, objects, text annotations, radio buttons, barcodes, and pdf bookmarks. You'll find all this software's pdf editing options under the main toolbar. After making changes to a pdf document, you have the option of exporting it in one of the many supported formats, such as eps, svg, xps, png, or bmp.

There are numerous drawing tools, including freehand lines, spirals, bezier curves, and arcs; a page tool that allows you to insert pages; a table tool that lets you insert rows and columns; and a merge cell tool that lets you combine cells. A pdf document can be edited and annotated with these tools as well. As a whole, it's yet another user-friendly open-source pdf editor.

Written by:

Gayathri Rasangika

Before starting her writing career, Gayathri was an undergraduate who majored in theoretical physical chemistry. She then went to law school, graduating with a bachelor's degree. She evaluates the top Open-Source pdf Editor for 2022 in this post.

15 years of office industry experience, tech lover and copywriter. Follow me for product reviews, comparisons, and recommendations for new apps and software.